Add North Carolina to the list of Republican-controlled states that will redraw their congressional maps to help rig the 2026 GOP midterm elections.
State Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican, said Monday he is convening the Republican-controlled Legislature next week to pass a new map that could snatch another U.S. House seat from Democrats.
“Earlier today [state House Speaker Destin Hall] and I agreed to return to Raleigh to support [President Donald Trump] by redrawing our congressional map in North Carolina to block blue state Democrats like [California Gov. Gavin Newsom] who want to take control of Congress from the Republicans,” Berger wrote in a message on X.
Of course California I'm trying to redraw my maps just because Texas Republicans listened to Trump's demand redraw the Lone Star State's congressional map to oust up to five Democrats from the state's delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives. California voters will decide whether to approve a ballot measure in November that would suspend the state's independent redistricting commission and allow the Democratic-controlled Legislature to redraw its districts to undo Texas' partisan gerrymandering. Polls show that the referendum will take place on the way to success.
North Carolina, for its part, already has one of the most twisted Republican gerrymanders in the country. Trump carried the state by only 3 percentage points in 2024, Republicans will hold 10 of the 14 seats in the US House of Representatives.
In 2024 Democrats broken republican party rigged state legislative majority. However, even that won't matter if the Legislature actually redraws its maps, since the governor doesn't have the power to veto new district lines. The new card can pass with simple majority in the legislature.
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein criticized Republicans for trying to rig the map to further benefit GOP candidates.
“The General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump,” Stein said. said in the statement. “Republican leadership in the General Assembly failed to pass a budget, failed to pay our teachers and law enforcement what they deserve, and failed to fully fund Medicaid. Now they are failing you, the voters. These unscrupulous politicians are abusing their power to take away yours. I will always fight for you because voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.”
Newsom, whom Berger mentioned in his X post on redistricting, also condemned North Carolina Republicans for their redistricting efforts.
“North Carolina's pathetic legislative leaders didn't even pass a budget. So what are they doing? Stealing Trump's next election,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. “Their priorities are clear – kneel to Trump, deceive North Carolina. Remember that.”
If North Carolina adopts the new map, it will become the latest GOP-controlled state to dramatically redraw its borders to squeeze more seats for Republicans – an attempt to prevent Democrats from taking control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas, MissouriAnd Utah have already redrawn their districts in favor of the Republicans.
Meanwhile, Ohio Republicans are expected to go through a new map until the end of November.
Kansas Republicans also getting ready try to redraw House district lines, as Republicans are doing in Indiana, FloridaAnd Nebraska.
